Ball



Dec. 13, 1932. w BARTKY 1,890,566

BALL

Filed June20, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 13, 1932. w. BARYTKY 1390,56 6- BALL Filed June 20, 1931 2 Shqets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE WALTER BARTKY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOTtS, ASSIGNOR TO WILSON-WESTERN SPORTING GOODS COIYIPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLI ENGIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE BALL Application filed June 20,

The present invention relates to balls and is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved cover for inflatable balls, such as basket balls, soccer balls, footballs, volley balls and other inflatable balls. The features of the invention are not, however, confined to use with inflatable balls, but may be utilized upon spherical articles of var ous kinds requiring a covering having the characteristics of the covering described herein and, for example, the present covering may also be used for baseballs, handballs and play balls of all kinds. The list of uses enumerated herein is not comprehens've or exclusive but merely exemplary of some of the more common articles in which the invention may be utilized.

The invention is of particular importance in connection with inflatable balls and one of the principal objects of the invention is the p rovision of an improved inflatable ball cover, the construction of which is based upon correct scientific principles and which is adapted to be more perfectly spherlcal than the balls of the prior art.

Another object of the'invention is the provison of an inflatable ball which is adapted to rebound more accurately than balls of the prior art and which is adapted to present uniform resilient characteristics over sub stantially the entire surface of the ball.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved inflatable ball cover in which the seams and patches may be symmetrically located with respect to the center of the ball, thereby providinga cover having a more perfect static and dynamic'balance by virtue of the fact thatthe weight of the cover is uniformly distributed on the surface of the ball.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved inflatable ball cover wh ch is adapted to permit a minimum of distortion or unequal stretching of the various parts of the cover by virtue of the fact that the seamsjoining the patches or pieces may comprise a uniform symmetrical network on the surface of the ball to reinforce the respective patches of the cover and prevent undue stretching in any particular direction.

1931 Serial No. 545,764.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ball cover pattern which is adapted to present a substantially uniform surface to the air, so that every part of the surface of the ball will have substantially the same characteristics with respect to the air resistance as the ball passes through the air and so that the pattern will be substantially uniform for the purpose of obtaining a hand grip on the ball.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ball cover in which the lac ng and bladder valve may be symmetrically disposed with respect to each other, thereby effecting a more perfect balance of the inflated ball.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ball cover which maybe constructed of pieces of material of substantially the same size and shape, the pieces being adapted to be cut from a large piece of leather with a very small amount of Waste on account of the fact that the patterns of the various patches are adapted to sub stantially fit together.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ball cover formed of relatively small patches or pieces of material such as leather, thereby eliminating the possibility of stretching which is likely to occur in larger pieces of material and enabling the discriminate and economical use of material since the manufacturer may select smaller pieces of leather having substantially uniform characteristics, or in the cheaper embodiments of the invention one may utilize the leather findings or small scraps of leather that are not large enough for regulation patterns. Other objects and advantages of/ the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings,

rinwhich similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several Views- 7 Referring to the drawings of which there are two sheets,

Fig. l is a top plan view of the lacing side of a volley ball constructed according to the present invention;

Fi 2 is an elevational View of the left end D e of the ball shown in r 1g. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of one side of the ball of Fig. 1, taken from a point located view taken on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows showing the details of the seams and lacing;

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 1 of a modification which happens to be a basket ball of the valve type, partially broken away to show the internal construction;

Fig. 7 is another view of the ball of Fig. 6, taken from a side approximately opposite to the lacing;

. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional detail view through the lacing and cover, taken on V the plane of the line 88 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is another fragmentary sectional view of one of the seams taken on the plane of the line 99 of Fig.6; and s Fig. 10 is another fragmentary sectional View taken on the plane of the line 10-l0 of F igj 7 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, it should be understood that either of these modifications may be utilized for balls of any size or for any type of ball, although the embodiment selected to illustrate the inventionin Fig. 1 is a volley ball and that of Fig. 6 is a basket ball.

The present balls are preferably constructed of the best leather which is lined with one or more layers of convex or other closely woven reinforcing material, and the halls are preferably provided witl separate rubber bladders according to the standard modes of constructing inflatable balls for modern games. It should be understood, however, that in some embodiments the cover may be itself constructed of pieces of ar t gh material in such a manner that a sing covering is adapted to perform both the f ions of the usual cover and bladder. and in some embodiments ofthe invention the present cove may be utilized for covering balls having a hard or resilient core instead of a bladder.

Referring to Fig. 1, this is a top plan view of an inflatable volley ball 11, which is preferably provided with a leather cover indicated in its entirety by the numeral 13.

The present invention is based upon the discovery of the fact that twelve equilateral spherical pentagons may be made to cover a surface of a sphere, the sides of the pentagons engaging each other without leaving cracks or overlapping. The surface of the sphere may thus be divided into twelve substantially equal spherical pentagons, the sides of the pentagons forming parts of great circles on the surface of the sphere.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, it will be noted that the top, end, side and bottom of the ball are shown in detail. In some embodiments of the invention the top and bottom of the ball may be substantially identical except for the fact that the lacing extends along one of the scams or sides of the pentagon, as shown in Fig. 6. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 there is illustrated a modification wherein the lacing does not extend along one of the sides of the pentagons but along a line extending diametrically across two of the pentagonal figures, and therefore the end, top and bottom have been illustrated. The end opposite to Fig. 2 would, of course, be identical to the view shown in Fig. Q and the side opposite to Fig. 3 would also be identical to the showing of Fig. 3.

an le of a s herical enta on bein e ual to b 23 D 120, it will be observed that three of the pentagonal patches or pieces of the pattern may be fitted together and joined to form a spherical surface, the intersection of the three sides being indicated by the numeral 17 in Fig. 3 and the respective sides by the numerals 18, 19 and 20. The lines 18, 19 and 20 actually constitute parts of great circles intersecting at the point- 17 and located at the angle of 120 with respect to each other. At a point exactly opposite to the point 17 on the ball 12 will be found the intersection of the corresponding parts of the great circles 18, 19 and 20.

The length of the side of the pentagon and the size of each pentagonal figure may be calculated for any size of sphere by means of mathematical formulae, but for the purpose of the actual manufacture of leather balls it is necessary to provide an excess of material for the seams and consequently it will be found desirable to determine the size of the patternof pentagon for any ball by the estimate and trial system of dividing the surface of a sphere of a desired size, allowing suflicient excess material on each side of each pentagon to form the seam. It is found that twelve spherical equilateral pentagons sewed edge to edge Wlll substantially cover a sphere .and the patches of material of pentagonal i. 161 patches of Fig. 6 and the slit which is closed Referring toFigs. 1 to 4, the corresponding indicia in thevarious figures indicate the same pieces of the cover. The two elongated pieces of the pattern adjacent the lacthe lines of great circles located at that point and are 120 apart on the surface of theball.

The ends of patches 14 and 15 engage adjacent edges of the patches 29 and 00111- prising pentagonal pieces, the edges of which engage also the adjacent patches 23 and 24 as shown in Fig. 2.

At the opposite end of the ball in Fig. 1 there are similar patches 31 and 32, which also engage the ends 27 and 28 of elongated patches 14 and 15 and the sides 33 and 34 of patches 23 and 24.

In order to facilitate the description of the ball and the reference to the various patches or pieces of the cover, the remaining patches have been designated by the numerals 35 to 38.

In the modification of Fig. 1 the two patches 14 and 15 may be considered as two pentagons having their adjacent sides on the line 55, and for the purpose of description these pentagonal portions will be indicated by the numerals 39 and 40.

It will thus be observed that the respective patches 23, 24, 29 to 32 and 3 5 to 40 comprise twelve pentagonal pieces forming the covering of the ball.

- .The sides of the pentagonal figures or seams which have not yet been designated with-numerals will be. designated by the numerals 41 to 45 in Fig. 1.

Corresponding numerals have been applied to the same sides or seams of Figs. 2, 3 and 4,

and the other sides or seams not yet designated by numerals have been designated by numerals 46 to 59 in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7 these are illustrations of a ball in which all of the patches or pieces are pentagonal in form, and the lacing 16 of Fig. 6 may be considered to ex.-

tend along a line corresponding to the line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is therefore a modification of'the same ball with the lacing placed along one of the pentagonal seams instead of along the line or seam 41, and the same nu- I merals may be applied to the patches of Fig.

6 except that the ball is rotated in a clockwise direction 90 from the position of Fig. 1. The patches of Fig. 6 have therefore been designated with numerals 23, 24 and 29 to 31. Corresponding numerals have also been applied to the seams or lines between the by the lacing 16 has been designated by the numeral 60. 1

In the embodiment of Figs. 6 and 7 the ball consists entirely of pentagonal patches or pieces and the slit 60 extends along a line which corresponds to the line 55 of Fig. 1.

The view of Fig. 7 is taken from a side which is not directly opposite to Fig. 6, but numerals corresponding to those used in Figs. 1 to 4 have been applied and the centrally located patch 36 of Fig. 7 is the one directly opposite to the patch 40 of Fig. 6. Fig. 7 may, therefore, be considered to be Fig. 6 which has been rotated in a clockwise direction 180 and then downward in front until the patch 36 is in the middle of the view; or Fig. 7 may be considered as being a view of the same ball as that of Fig. 6, the ball being located downward in front over an angle of slightly less than 180.

It will thus be observed that the ball cover may be constructed of twelve equilateral spherical pentagonal pieces which might be abutted edge to edge or which may be provided with sufficient selvage to form a seam. The sides of the pentagons are slightly curved since they are parts of a spherical surface and since the sides extend along great circles and the seams formed by sewing the adjacent edges of the patches together, as shown in Fig. 9, form a network, the parts of which extend along great circles on the surface of the ball and all of the parts of which are symmetrically located with respect to the center of the ball. The seams of a ball of this type are naturally reinforced by the sewing of the two adjacent edges of the patches and by the inwardly turned edges 61, 62 so that there is a lesser degree of stretch or extension in the seams of the ball than there is in the body of the patches. Consequently the central portion of each of the patches is adapted to stretch sufficiently to form a substantially spherical surface and when the present covers are distended by the pressure within the inflatable ball or by drawing the patches tightly about a spherical core the present cover forms a substantially spherical surface.

The present ball may be provided with a lining 63 (Fig. 5) consisting of a series of similar patches of closely woven and relatively heavy fabric such as canvas, duck or drill, the lining patches 63 corresponding in size and shape to the cover patches and having sufficient selvage so that both the lining patches and cover patches may be sewed to gather by the same lines of stitching; 64. In the embodiment of Fig. 5' the patches 14 and 15 are preferably reinforced adjacent the slit 65 by providing an inside layer 66, 67 of leather on each s de of the slit and the reinforcing layers of leather 66, 67 may be sewed to the patches 14 and 15 by the lines of stitching 68, 69 which extend along the edges of the slit 65 and by an outer line of stitching 7 0 which may take any ornamentaldesign and which is located ad acent the outer edges of the reinforcing patches 66, 67. The corresponding lining patches '63 are confined between the tion may be embodied in inflatable balls having ordinary rubber bladders or in balls having bladders of the valve type. The ball of Figs. 1 to i is shown with an ordinary rubber bladder 72 having its stem 7 3 tied shut and folded over underneath the lacing 16. The

bladder 72 is ireferabl irovided with a flan of leather- 74 having an aperture 75 adapted to receive the stem 73 and the leather flap T l is preferably loosely mounted on the stem 73 so that it is adapted to spread uniformly in all directions from the stem 73 without possibility of wrinkling, as might be the case where the flap is secured at one of its edges to the cover of the ball. 7

Referring to Fig. 6, the lining of this ball may consist of two layers 76, 77 of closely woven drill, duck, canvas or the like having the weft threads of one layer 76 extending at substantially right angles to the weft breads of the other layer 77. This arrangement of lining prevents the unequal stretching of the lining in any direction which is likely to result where the weft threads of the lining stretch more than the warp threads; The successive layers of rubber lining and leather are illustrated in Fig. 6 where one of the patches has broken away and turned back; The details of the lacing of the ball of Figs. 6 and 7 may be substantially the same as that desc bed with respect to Fig. 5 and correspondnumerals have been applied to Fig. 8 with the exception that the lacing slit in Fig. 8

extends along one of the sides of the pentagonal pieces. 7 V

The rubber bladder 78 (Fig. 10) is preferably providcd with a valve stem 79 having a valve of the same type usually employed in pneumatic tires but having a relatively short stem and the valve stem 79 is preferably provided with threads. he stem 7 9 may be threaded into an anchor plate 80 of metal or fiber and the anchor plate 80 may be secured to the cover of the ball by being confined between a pair of rubber washers 81, 82. Each of the rubber washers 81, 82 is provided with a centrally located aperture 88, 84 for receiving stem 79 and the washers 81, 82 are sewed to the cover and the lining by a line of stitching 85 which may form a circle about the valve aperture 86. The valve stem 79 is also preferably provided with a cap 87 located below the surface of the ball and adapted to further insure against the loss of air through the valve stem 79. In order to improve the resilient characteristics of the cover adjacent the valve opening 86 a layer 88 of felt, rubber or other resilient cushioning material may be interposed between the inside of the cover and tne washer 81 about the valve stem 79 and secured in place by the same stitching 85.

It will thus be observed that I have invented a new ball cover in which all of the seams may be located along the lines of great circles if desired and the ball cover may be constructed of twelve equilateral spherical pentagons. If desired the cover might be further subdivided into smaller patches by dividing each pentagon into five spherical triangles, the triangles bein equilateral and having their apices located at the center of each pentagon. The ball need not, however, e;:;ciusively consist of pentagonal figures in every case as will be evident from the disclosure of Fig. l, but the major portion of the surface of the ball preferably consists of the equilateral pentagonal patches or their equivalent.

The seams of the ball being located along lines of great circles and being substantially symmetrically located with respect to center of the ball, it will be evident that scams form a symmetrical network on surface of the ball, the tensile strength of various parts of the network being substantially the same so that the ball is adapted to maintain its spherical form better than the balls of the prior art in which the seams extended in various different directions. Furthermore, the seams and patches being unifor 'nly and symmetrically located on the surface of the ball, the ball presents more uniform resilient characteristics over substantially the entire surface of the ball and is adapted to rebound more accurately than the balls of the prior art.

The weight of the various parts of the cover is substantially uniformly distributed over the surface of the ball, thereby attaining a more perfect static and dynamic balance of the parts of the ball and the valve may be located at a point substantially opposite the lacing to achieve an approximate balance for the same purpose.

The present ball also presents a substantially uniform surface to the air so that practically every part of the ball has substantially the same characteristics with respect to air resistance and the pattern of the cover may be made substantially uniform for the purpose of permitting a uniform hand grip on the ball at any point.

In the more expensive types of balls the invention permits the discriminate and economical use of material since the smaller pieces may be selected with substantially uniform characteristics and in the cheaper embodiments of the invention leather findings or small scraps of leather may be utilized that are not large enough for regulation patterns.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail my self of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An inflatable ball cover comprising a multiplicity of regular, pentagonal, and like pieces of leather joined together at their edges by seams, said seams extending along lines corresponding to great circles and said seams forming a substantially uniform network which is symmetrically located with respect to the center of the ball.

2. A ball cover comprising a multiplicity of substantially regular pentagonal pieces of material secured together at their edges, the edges of said pieces being slightly curved and extending along lines corresponding to great circles on the ball, said pieces being secured together to form a substantially uniform network of seams on the surface of the cover, said ball having a slit located between the adjacent edges of two of said pentagonal pieces and means for closing said slit.

3. A ball cover comprising a plurality of patches of leather, each of said patches comprising an equilateral pentagonal patch having its edges secured to the edges of adjacent equilateral patches, and there being twelve pentagonal patches secured together to form a spherical cover, two of said patches having a bladder opening located along their adjacent edges, means to secure said edges together toclose said bladder opening, and said cover having an opening located opposite said bladder opening for an inflation valve, whereby said bladder opening and inflation valve are located symmetrically with respect to each other and the seams between said patches are located symmetrically with respect to the center of the spherical ball to provide a ball having substantially uniform rebound characteristics over the major portion of its surface.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name, this 16th day of June, 1931.

WALTER BARTKY. 

